Objective: Feedback of patients' medical information among healthcare workers within the acute care could improve the quality of care during an Emergency Department (ED) visit. However, in practice, feedback among healthcare workers leads to juridical discussions. Therefore, this study explores whether ED patients agree with medical information feedback among healthcare workers in the acute care, such as the ambulance staff and ED physicians, and whether this was different from permission for feedback to the general practitioner.
Method: Multicenter cross-sectional study in three EDs in the Netherlands. Patients ≥18 years old, presented per ambulance between May 3rd and June 12th 2021, filled in a questionnaire asking whether they agree with medical information feedback to ambulance staff and reviewing medical files for follow-up by ED physicians.
Results: A total of 369 patients were included with a mean age of 68 years (SD 18). In total, 98,9% of patients agreed with medical information feedback to ambulance staff, which was not significantly different from the 99,2% of patients who agreed with feedback to the general practitioner (p=1.00).
Conclusion: All but a few ED patients agreed with medical information exchange to ambulance personnel and follow-up by ED-physicians. During ED-visits, medical information feedback to the general practitioner is a standard procedure, with the possibility of an opt-out. In our opinion, feedback and exchange of medical information within the acute care should be arranged similarly.